Movie Buzz: The Oscars are at the Saratoga Film Forum

With the 86th Academy Awards approaching on Sunday, March 2, the Saratoga Film Forum is also gearing up for its own red carpet events. Bringing something both new and old to the silver screen, this week, the Forum will be screening this year’s Oscar nominated shorts followed by a screening of the Oscar nominated classic, The Last Detail, playing at the Spring Street Gallery.

For the ninth consecutive year, Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures present the festival of the Oscar-nominated live-action and animated short films. This feature-length program includes all of this year’s nominated films, as well as several additional titles that were short-listed for this year’s awards. The schedule is as follows: Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.: Best Animated Short Films; Friday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.: Best Live Action Short Films; and Sunday, Feb. 9 at noon: Best Documentary Short Films. The short films to be included in this screening, with official synopsis, include:

Documentary short subject

“CaveDigger” directed by Jeffery Karoff. “New Mexico environmental sculptor Ra Paulette carves elaborately designed and painstakingly executed sandstone caves, driven by an artistic vision that often brings him into conflict with his patrons.”

“Facing Fear” directed by Jason Cohen. “As a gay 13-year-old, Matthew Boger endured a savage beating at the hands of a group of neo-Nazis. Twenty-five years later, he meets one of them again by chance.”

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“Karama Has No Walls” directed by Sara Ishaq. “When protesters in Yemen added their voices to those of other nations during the Arab Spring, the government responded with an attack that left 53 people dead and inspired widespread sympathy throughout the country.”

“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” directed by Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed. At 109, Alice Herz Sommer is the world’s oldest pianist…and its oldest Holocaust survivor. At the heart of her remarkable story of courage and endurance is her passion for music.”

“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” directed by Edgar Barens. “In a maximum security prison, the terminally ill Jack Hall faces his final days with the assistance of hospice care provided by workers drawn from the prison population.”

Animated short film

“Feral” directed by Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden. “A wild boy who has grown up in the woods is found by a hunter and returned to civilization.”

“Get a Horse!” directed by Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim. Mickey Mouse and his friends are enjoying a wagon ride until Peg-Leg Pete shows up with plans to ruin their day.”

“Possessions” directed by Shuhei Morita. A man seeking shelter from a storm in a dilapidated shrine encounters a series of household objects inhabited by goblin spirits.”

“Room on the Broom” directed by Max Lang and Jan Lachauer. “A genial witch and her cat are joined on their broom by several friends as they set off on an adventure.”

Live action short film

“Aquel No Era Yo” (That Wasn’t Me) directed by Esteban Crespo. “Paula, a Spanish aid worker, has an encounter with an African child soldier named Kaney.”

“Avant Que De Tout Perdre” (Just before Losing Everything) directed by Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras. “Miriam has left her abusive husband and taken refuge with her children in the local supermarket where she works.”

“Helium” directed by Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson. “A dying boy finds comfort in the tales of a magical land called HELIUM, told to him by the hospital janitor.”

“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa?” (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) directed by Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari. “Sini tries frantically to get her family ready to leave for a wedding, but her husband and two children are interfering with her efforts.”

“The Voorman Problem” directed by Mark Gill and Baldwin Li. “A psychiatrist is called to a prison to examine an inmate named Voorman, who is convinced he is a god.”

‘The Last Detail’

On Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m., Spring Street Gallery will be screening Hal Ashby’s “The Last Detail” starring Jack Nicholson. Hal Ashby’s 1973 comedy-drama paved the way—if that’s what you want to call it—for the more or less unrestricted use of profanity in films, even surpassing “Scarface” in its carpet f-bombing.

Jack Nicholson won Best Actor for “The Last Detail” at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film itself was nominated for the Palme d’Or. It was also nominated for three Academy Awards — Nicholson for Best Actor, Randy Quaid for Best Supporting Actor, and Robert Towne for Best Adapted Screenplay.

New ‘Red Angel’ date

The canceled screening of the Japanese film, “Red Angel”, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 p.m. This Town & Gown event features a post-film conversation with Albany filmmaker Jim de Seve.

General admission is $7; members and students pay $5. Screenings at the Spring Street Gallery are free. For more information about the Film Forum please visit www.saratogafilmforum.org, or call 584-9723.